Bad units that you still love using!

[CWGameplay]

The title says it all!  What are some FE units that you know and acknowledge aren't very good, but still love to use?

For me, there are definitely a few.  My favorite character in the series, Nino, is obviously not a very good unit, but I always end up trying to use her.  The same goes for Ilyana in both FE9 and FE10, even though she's not really awful as much as overshadowed.  I always make an effort to use Tailtiu in FE4 too, because I think Wrath is just such a fun skill to use in that game.  The more I write this list, the more I realize I just like using bad mage girls...  What about you guys?

[eclipse]

I have an entire sig's worth of questionable Shadow Dragon choices.  No regrets!

[Benice]

Basically every bad unit there is, but I'll list favorites.

FE6:

• Fir
• Noah
• Treck
• Shanna
• Lot
• Wade
• Bors
• Lilina
• Wendy

FE7:

• Dorcas
• Bartre
• Florina (Although she's not awful)
• Guy
• Wil
• Rebecca

FE8  on a no tower/ruins run:

• Ewan
• Marisa
• Amelia
• Ross
• Knoll
• Tana

FE10:

• Aran
• Laura
• Mist
• Rolf

[Jotari]

Other people say she's bad, but personally I think Astrid is pretty damn great in Radiant Dawn. Yes, she starts off having massive trouble killing things, but give her a bit of attention and combine blossom with her innate paragon and you can turn her into an absolute beast. I think I had an Astrid that capped every single stat five levels before hitting the level cap. Plus she's really your only option for a mounted Double Bow user. A lot of people just can't get over that early game babying though.

[MisterIceTeaPeach]

Fiona and Astrid in FE10 because they are the only mounts who have the caps to double Ashera's auras. If they both have a support each other, they're pretty much untouchable.

Edit: Mist can double the auras too.

Edited June 2, 2020 by Falcom Knight

[CWGameplay]

2 minutes ago, Jotari said:

Other people say she's bad, but personally I think Astrid is pretty damn great in Radiant Dawn.

I think she's definitely not as bad as people give her trouble for.  One of her biggest weaknesses is ironically Paragon, and how tempting it is to throw it on another one of your already good units.  I always try and use her, though.

9 minutes ago, Benice said:

FE8  on a no tower/ruins run:

• Ewan
• Marisa
• Amelia
• Ross
• Knoll
• Tana

Oh yeah, I forgot about all the trainees!  I love Ewan in particular, but Amelia and Ross are always fun to use too.  I personally don't think Tana's that bad, though.  She's usually not as good as Vanessa, but there's never really any reason to not just use both of them.

[BergelomeuSantos]

Jesus, this is going to be a list..

I mean, most of them are not AWFUL by any means, but they sure get overshadowed.

FE1/11/3/12:

• Gordin (wow, who guessed?) (1/11/3/12)
• Cord (the speedy one) (1/11/3/12)
• Darros (was a mistake) (11)
• Maria (11)
• Roger (11/12)
• Radd (11)
• Caeda (not BAD by any means, it's just...Catria and Palla) (12)

FE2/15: (I'm still very on the beginning of the game, but I plan on keeping Clive until the end and I keep hearing that he simply gets overshadowed by Mathilda or any villager getting into Cavalier, but does have it's uses as a Pre-Promote High Mov unit)

FE6:

• Noah
• Fir
• Wolt
• Ogier
• Wade

FE9/10:

• Ilyana 
• Brom 
• Malakov
• Mia (I guess she's not bad in 10, but oh well)
• Geoffrey
• Astrid

FE8:

• Ross
• Tana 
• Natasha 
• SOMETIMES Neimi

[Benice]

1 hour ago, CWGameplay said:

I personally don't think Tana's that bad, though

Ehh...Well, bases>Growths, and as much as I like growth units, she essentially joins at the same time as Cormag, who is probably the best flier in the game, at least on Ephraim route. On Eirika's, she's much more competent due to lack of competition, (I've never found Vanessa to be very good, actually.) although her starting equipment is horrendous.

16 minutes ago, BergelomeuSantos said:

Caeda (not BAD by any means, it's just...Catria and Palla) (12)

I haven't finished FE12, so I can't speak from experience, but sounds like she's quite good.

EDIT: Whoopsie, that's FE11. I can't keep those two games straight!

And I also forgot three quintessential units: Wolt, Dorothy and Neimi!

Edited June 2, 2020 by Benice

[Hello72207]

1 hour ago, Benice said:

Shanna

 

1 hour ago, Benice said:

Florina

Nether of these are bad units Benice.

But anyway:

FE6

• Lot
• Gonzalez
• Wendy

FE7

• Dorcas
• Dart? Is he bad?
• Guy
• Occasionally Nino if I am feeling like adding 30 min on to the playthrough

FE8

• Ross
• Joshua (although I would argue he is pretty good)
• Lute is a really good unit so she doesn't count
• Natasha
• Ewan

[Benice]

1 minute ago, Hello72207 said:

Nether of these are bad units Benice

I cannot have a list that excludes Florina! And on Hard Mode, Shanna really sucks. I like her, but MAN is she hard to use. She does have flying utility, but that's about it. Unless you get her like four perfect levels like you did.

3 minutes ago, Hello72207 said:

Dart? Is he bad?

I'd say so. Pretty squishy. Awful starting equipment don't help him.

3 minutes ago, Hello72207 said:

• Joshua (although I would argue he is pretty good)
• Lute is a really good unit so she doesn't count

Joshua's a great unit in a bad class for his game, but is definitely great for his role. Lute is good other than for Con competitions.

4 minutes ago, Hello72207 said:

Wendy

Bruh Wendy's top tier.

[Koops]

Dart is squishy but he's got enough HP that I'd say he can handle himself just fine. Also his offense is pretty darn amazing later on with 60% growth on strength AND speed, and a nice 12 strength base.

My favorite bad unit? Wil. I love this guy. I know he's one of the worst units in FE7 but I always use him. Even when he's disappointing because I tend to give any stat booster I don't need on him. The things I do for Wil. I mean obviously Fiora is bae and I do give her some energy rings but she doesn't need all the help you can give Wil.

Fir is a bad unit? I actually find her quite easy to train up in her join chapter alone and when she promotes she's, sure not as good as Rutger but she's still a SwordMaster in FE6. But I actually really like using Lilina. And Ogier. Lilina turns into a goddamn nuke later on no matter how slow she may be, and I just think Ogier's fun, and he gets going if you can give him some levels.

Idk if Tormod's a bad unit or not, but if he is, then him. Celerity alone is just such a good skill that I can justify using him over the other mages, and Bexp is a thing in this game. He also joins at a point where most people are close to promotion, so that means not many people want this Bexp so you can just dump it on him. For what it's worth tho I think his bases are just alright for his join chapter. He gets doubled by the Myrmidons and potentially one-shot by Fighters but if he can stay out of range feeding him kills isn't hard.

[whase]

I always enjoy using "bad" units, most notable ones that have not been mentioned yet:

Meg;
I really enjoy her personality, however little there is of it. On normal mode she isn't even that terrible, her speed caps really fast which makes her a perfect candidate for the buckets of bexp you get. Also, having Meg wield Alondite in endgame is too much fun not to.

Sophia;
Granted, is her starting chapter she can't do anything beside digging for treasures. And then the next chapter requires the biggest ton of babying you've ever seen. But the outcome is great, she has plenty of speed to cancel out her awful con, and flux deals plenty of damage. Lots of work for not much reward, but I like it.

Ashe;
Yeah I said it, Ashe is bad. But this guy is so sweet I can't not use him. No characters are truly hard to use in 3H, but he's definitely consistently one of my worst units in any class.

[Koops]

Ashe does take some attention, yeah, and his strength especially starts out lacking but mine is shaping up to be pretty good, actually.

I have him as a sniper. He's my squishiest unit so being able to attack miles away from the enemy is a good thing.

I would argue that Ingrid is actually a bit worse, tho, at least in earlygame. She takes off when you make her a Pegasus Knight, sure, but before that I'd go as far as to say she's actually a liability. But who am I to judge 3H units I haven't even finished my playthrough.

[Punished Dayni]

51 minutes ago, whase said:

Ashe;
Yeah I said it, Ashe is bad. But this guy is so sweet I can't not use him. No characters are truly hard to use in 3H, but he's definitely consistently one of my worst units in any class.

I dunno, WL!Ashe is plenty useful, him and Cyril are appreciated as bow users who make sense as fliers and Ashe has Deadeye. I can see people bringing up his strength, but that range alongside some strength boosting classes can make him more than capable.

10 minutes ago, Koops said:

I would argue that Ingrid is actually a bit worse, tho, at least in earlygame. She takes off when you make her a Pegasus Knight, sure, but before that I'd go as far as to say she's actually a liability. But who am I to judge 3H units I haven't even finished my playthrough.

Ingrid has been busted for me in like three runs, though outside BL I had her after she'd gotten that class. She is a pretty decent soldier by my experience actually (never had any trouble with her, but she's got some people who can tank better around too) and when you get her to pegasus she starts rolling onward to being busted. Even going Paladin after 20 didn't stop her (She got Falcoknight afterwards of course). Ingrid is to me a great unit, I forced myself not to recruit her in SS.

Calling Setsuna bad is easy. Realising she's still better than half of the retainers and a bunch of other allies and actually capable of being a speedy bow that can out speed Takumi should be more widespread.

I will still use Rebecca because she's early and at least isn't poor Wil.

Halvan's considered bad now, I don't get it. Sure he's no Osian, but he's still good.

Lena's a bad combat unit?

[Ertrick36]

37 minutes ago, Benice said:

• Florina (Although she's not awful)

She isn't bad because dodge-tanking is much more valuable in the GBA games due to 2RN.  It's only if you're playing a game with 1RN or, like, Fire Emblem Fates that speedy units with no defense or strength are worthless.  Or if you are a bad enough tactician to leave a squishy unit open to attacks from accurate foes.  I learned that lesson the first time I played Blazing Sword - got her killed in the final Lyn Mode chapter because I was an idiot and thought I could have her rush the enemy even though she didn't actually get very many levels.

4 hours ago, BergelomeuSantos said:

• Caeda (not BAD by any means, it's just...Catria and Palla) (12)

Specifically in FE12?  Eh, maybe.  Definitely not in the first half of the story, though.  Thing about Caeda that she has over those two, however, is granting support bonuses to units that are actually valuable.  She grants bonuses to Marth, Oguma, and, in the remakes, both Mallesia and Castor.  All of these units are good, strong units in their own right, if not actually critical to beating the game.  In FE12 she also has exclusive access to the Wing Spear, and you can't deny the value of what is basically the lance equivalent of a rapier.  In combination with the Dragonpike, she's basically capable of dealing effectiveness damage against any and all enemies that are actually formidable.

Caeda is probably at her weakest in Mystery Book 2.  Or rather, at her point of least advantage, as there's no wing spear to be made exclusive to her and those two Whitewing sisters both start with the ability to use just about any lance in the game (Catria being just two WLV points away from using the Gradivus, and Palla actually being able to use every lance in the game).  Also Caeda gives fewer support bonuses, as she only grants them to Marth and Oguma.

3 minutes ago, Daysi said:

Calling Setsuna bad is easy. Realising she's still better than half of the retainers and a bunch of other allies and actually capable of being a speedy bow that can out speed Takumi should be more widespread.

She's really not that terrible.  The power of bows make up for her low strength (seriously, the weakest standard bow in the game has a might of six), and she's better able to afford to rely on speed as a player turn focused unit than your typical speedy Hoshidan unit like Hana or Kaden.  She's definitely better than Subaki and Hana, probably better than Azama who is better served not being a healer, and absolutely gives units with lackluster speed such as Orochi or Hinata a run for their money.  I'd also say she's better than Niles, and the only real reason Niles is more respected is because he's a better capture unit than Orochi, who honestly is just not a good unit.  Give her the Pursuer by endgame, and she's basically guaranteed to kill anything she attacks that isn't the final boss (even then, she'll do quite a number on them for a non-Yato unit).

Here are mine, in no real order.

• Mozu (14) - Any who are trying to go for a LTC playthrough will tell you just how much Mozu sucks.  Admittedly, she is bad for anyone wanting to go for a speedy playthrough, and for the amount of commitment she needs to match strength with the average unit in your army (actually not too much if you get her early, but there's still commitment wasted), the payoff is simply a decent unit who can pass down a nice growth skill to any child that isn't Shigure or M!Kana.  But I like using her anyway, and would gladly dump 50 turns on her paralogue to make her decent.
• Tine (4) - She's "bad" in the general context that she's simply not as good as all the horse-mounted units in the game, particularly her brother Arthur who not only is a mage that gets a horse but also has the potential of inheriting the ability to use the ridiculously OP Holsety.  She's a respectable unit, as is her sub Linda, but others overshadow her.  Even so, I have a fondness for the children of Tailtiu, the lady who was abused by one of the most objectively evil women in the series, Hilda (not that Hilda, Three Houses fans, a different one).
• Ayra (4) - Another unit that's "bad" because of everyone else who's overwhelmingly good.  Folks that are good at the game will generally say she's best left just gaining levels in the arena and leaving the fighting to the mounted units - that her abilities as a unit don't make up for her lack of mobility.  Perhaps such is true, but I still like using this Astra monster in Gen 1 - nothing is more satisfying than seeing her commit overkill on an enemy.
• Marty (5) - Literally the only thing good about him as a unit is his absolutely insane Build growth.  Seriously, he'll almost immediately ram that cap, and all it's really good for is capturing enemies.  Just about every other stat for him is absolutely atrocious, and most will recommend you don't use him much.  But A) I love the capture mechanics in this game and B) he's the only option I realistically have in sparing Gomes, one of the few minor bosses in the series I feel genuinely bad about killing.  Also, he can be made good through the use of crusader scrolls, and you have more incentive to use less-than-ideal characters about midway through the game thanks to stamina mechanics.
• Delthea (2/15) - Don't really like her as a character, and she's a typical glass cannon which will buckle about as soon as she makes contact with virtually any enemy wielding a decent strength-based weapon... but, I mean, I love me a nuclear bomb in human form.
• Seteth (16) - I think if there are any units that classify as "bad" in Three Houses, the characters you are only able to recruit late into the game are about the closest to qualifying as such.  Unlike most FE games, Three Houses is a game much more heavily focused on and favorable towards growth units.  Every unit you get in the first few chapters of the game are crucial growth units, and are almost certainly gonna make up your core army late into the game - including those that people might generally say "suck", such as Ashe or Ignatz.  Seteth is a unit you get so late into the game that he's almost certain to be overshadowed by almost everyone else you've been using all this time.  But what can I say, I find him too lovable to ignore.
• Dorothy (6) - I think I'd classify Dorothy as "bad" not only because of the mounted bow-wielders in the game but also because of Wolt.  She's stuck in this weird middle ground where most people looking for actually good units will probably just ignore her in favor of other bowmen in the game.  But I dunno, I kinda just like her character, which is that of a guardian to a perverted troublemaking cleric.  She not only has to look out for Saul to keep him safe, she also has to look out for him to keep him from being a problem for others.
• Cecilia (6) - I also think some would classify Cecilia as a generally worse character than some other mages in the game both because there's a smorgasbord of other mages you get before her who are likely to be better and because the first chapter you're able to use her takes place in a desert, meaning you can barely even move her around in that chapter.  But I'm a grumpy adult and can't stand all these kids, so I'll take my kinda not great mounted mage just by virtue of her being at least in her 20's.
• Virion (13) - I'm of the opinion that there's no such thing as a "bad" unit in Awakening, only less-than-ideal units.  Well, Virion is one of those units.  In Awakening, archers are just lame.  They're locked to 2-range, and they don't make up for their lack of counterattack ability with any notable strength beyond the usual "strong against fliers" deal which means little when mages are so much stronger and are able to use several weapons with effectiveness against fliers.  Even so, I still enjoy using the archest of archers, even if Noire is probably a more archerer archer than Virion.
• Trainees (8) - Ross is actually a pretty decent unit, but the other two suck in their own ways.  Even so, I like making tiny little Amelia into a terrifying great knight and innocent Ewan into a Druid of darkness.  There's just something comical about seeing Amelia physically grow into a heavily armored cavalry unit, and seeing such a sinister unit as a Druid with as ridiculous a color palette as Ewan's.  I know I said I dislike children when I listed Cecilia, but I meant that in Binding Blade a lot of the core cast (that is, Roy and those he can support with) are basically 15 years old or younger judging by appearance - in Sacred Stones most units appear to be at least 16.

Surprisingly there are no units that I like using in the Archanea games which are actually bad.  The worst one is probably Katarina in New Mystery simply because of redundancy, but considering there are enough cavaliers in the game to make up an entire team and that she's actually pretty decent (particularly in her high weapon ranks), I'd hardly classify her as a "bad" unit.  And Wendell in the remakes is even still usable as a mage Jeigan, although I prefer him in the original games.  I guess I'm just a simp when it comes to the Archanea characters, as I don't really like using the redundant characters like Tomas or the bald armor knight duo.  And I don't list Est because I actually don't find her all that fun to use beyond employing her in the Triangle Attack, and in the one game I do find her enjoyable to use in, Gaiden/Echoes, she's actually not difficult or tedious to level up.

[Shadow Mir]

2 hours ago, Daysi said:

Calling Setsuna bad is easy. Realising she's still better than half of the retainers and a bunch of other allies and actually capable of being a speedy bow that can out speed Takumi should be more widespread.

 

2 hours ago, Ertrick36 said:

She's really not that terrible.  The power of bows make up for her low strength (seriously, the weakest standard bow in the game has a might of six), and she's better able to afford to rely on speed as a player turn focused unit than your typical speedy Hoshidan unit like Hana or Kaden.  She's definitely better than Subaki and Hana, probably better than Azama who is better served not being a healer, and absolutely gives units with lackluster speed such as Orochi or Hinata a run for their money.  I'd also say she's better than Niles, and the only real reason Niles is more respected is because he's a better capture unit than Orochi, who honestly is just not a good unit.  Give her the Pursuer by endgame, and she's basically guaranteed to kill anything she attacks that isn't the final boss (even then, she'll do quite a number on them for a non-Yato unit).

Setsuna's speed would be great if she didn't suck almost everywhere else. Speed is the most important stat in these games, but it doesn't mean much when it's literally your only good stat. . .

4 hours ago, whase said:

Ashe;
Yeah I said it, Ashe is bad. But this guy is so sweet I can't not use him. No characters are truly hard to use in 3H, but he's definitely consistently one of my worst units in any class.

Bold: Forgot about Lorenz and Raphael? Because those two come to mind as being hard to use.

As to the topic, the only one coming to mind is Amelia.

Edited June 2, 2020 by Shadow Mir

[Fabulously Olivier]

SS:

Innes

Gilliam

Forde (at least compared to the other cavs)

Rennac

 

PoR:

Mia

Nephenee

Arguably Zihark (more meh than bad, and certainly better than Mia and Lucia)

Bastian

Nasir

Shinon

Gatrie

 

RD:

Leonardo (Honestly, I don't think he's all that bad, considering you can use him for chipping foes for your other units). 

Aran (I still don't understand how he's bad. He's a great asset as a much needed DB tank).

Pelleas

Bastian

Nasir

 

FE3H:

Bernadetta (though people are starting to see her value)

Ashe has been used in all of my playthroughs so far. Albeit the current one is as a guard adjuctant.

[whase]

17 minutes ago, Shadow Mir said:

Forgot about Lorenz and Raphael? Because those two come to mind as being hard to use.

Really? They're not the best units, but units like Ignatz and Caspar seem far worse to me, and even they can be used fairly easily in normal mode or NG+ hard mode.

[Hello72207]

9 hours ago, Benice said:

And on Hard Mode, Shanna really sucks. I like her, but MAN is she hard to use

No, she really isn't. She can easily get a level in her join chapter, enemy soldiers are great kills for her, other kills can be set up. Actually just watch this video:

 

6 hours ago, whase said:

she has plenty of speed to cancel out her awful con,

*looks at growth* *visible confusion, seeing as she is literally slower then Bors and Wendy*

2 hours ago, Fabulously Olivier said:

SS:

Innes

Gilliam

Forde (at least compared to the other cavs)

Rennac

Innes is actually a fairly good prepromote if you go Eirika's route, he has fairly ok growths too.

Gilliam can turn into a monster if you actually train him and don't mind slowing down every chapter for him.

Forde is, well:

Rennac is very good at what he needs to do, and that is thiefing. Combat unit? no. Thief? yes.

8 hours ago, Koops said:

Fir is a bad unit?

Nah, FE6 Swordmaster fixes any problems she could have. Hard mode bonuses help also, +3 in every stat is really helpful.

10 hours ago, Benice said:

I'd say so. Pretty squishy. Awful starting equipment don't help him.

Once he gets going though... Easily surpasses Hawkeye, actually doubles things.

10 hours ago, Benice said:

I cannot have a list that excludes Florina!

Alright then, make a list of FE units that you personally hate and think are ugly.

[CWGameplay]

10 hours ago, Benice said:

Ehh...Well, bases>Growths, and as much as I like growth units, she essentially joins at the same time as Cormag, who is probably the best flier in the game, at least on Ephraim route. On Eirika's, she's much more competent due to lack of competition, (I've never found Vanessa to be very good, actually.) although her starting equipment is horrendous.

No, you're right.  I think that (not counting Syrene) she's definitely the worst of the three fliers you get, but being the worst of the fliers is still pretty good.  I always use her over Vanessa anyways, because I have personal beef with Vanessa.

10 hours ago, Hello72207 said:

• Dart? Is he bad?

I'd argue that Dart's biggest weakness is his promotion item.  You get the Ocean Seal about 5 or 6 chapters after you get Dart, and even then it's really tempting to sell the Ocean Seal for the huge amount of 25k gold.

6 hours ago, whase said:

Sophia;
Granted, is her starting chapter she can't do anything beside digging for treasures. And then the next chapter requires the biggest ton of babying you've ever seen. But the outcome is great, she has plenty of speed to cancel out her awful con, and flux deals plenty of damage. Lots of work for not much reward, but I like it.

I've never actually used Sophia, but I love her character and design.  Recently, I've been using Kast to stream myself playing iron man runs to a few of my friends, while calling them on my phone at the same time.  I'm just finishing up an FE8 randomized iron man, and I'm thinking FE6 might be next.  Maybe I'll take a shot at using her this time around!

5 hours ago, Daysi said:

Sophia;
Granted, is her starting chapter she can't do anything beside digging for treasures. And then the next chapter requires the biggest ton of babying you've ever seen. But the outcome is great, she has plenty of speed to cancel out her awful con, and flux deals plenty of damage. Lots of work for not much reward, but I like it.

Yeah, this.  Ashe's Strengths are really good, allowing him to take advantage of some of the best classes and skills in the game.  Axes make it easy for him to go into Brigand and get Death Blow, and then from there he can become a Wyvern Lord pretty easily thanks to his Budding Talent in Lances.  On top of that, he still has good Bow rank, Bows being arguably one of the best weapon types in the game thanks to the availability of Close Counter.  He's far from the best unit in the game or anything, but I think he deserves a bit more credit than he gets.

Edited June 2, 2020 by CWGameplay

[Benice]

5 minutes ago, Hello72207 said:

No, she really isn't. She can easily get a level in her join chapter, enemy soldiers are great kills for her, other kills can be set up. Actually just watch this video:

She's not Wendy-tier bad, but she's not going to be your best combat unit and the axefest don't help that much. She CAN be okay, but she's not better than the other flyers you get, Other than perhaps Juno.

14 minutes ago, Hello72207 said:

Once he gets going though... Easily surpasses Hawkeye, actually doubles things.

True enough. He still does take a little while to get going and Hawkeye is already quite good, so that 25k from the Ocean Seal can be tempting, though.

[Fabulously Olivier]

15 minutes ago, Hello72207 said:

No, she really isn't. She can easily get a level in her join chapter, enemy soldiers are great kills for her, other kills can be set up. Actually just watch this video:

 

*looks at growth* *visible confusion, seeing as she is literally slower then Bors and Wendy*

Innes is actually a fairly good prepromote if you go Eirika's route, he has fairly ok growths too.

Gilliam can turn into a monster if you actually train him and don't mind slowing down every chapter for him.

Forde is, well:

Rennac is very good at what he needs to do, and that is thiefing. Combat unit? no. Thief? yes.

Nah, FE6 Swordmaster fixes any problems she could have. Hard mode bonuses help also, +3 in every stat is really helpful.

Once he gets going though... Easily surpasses Hawkeye, actually doubles things.

Alright then, make a list of FE units that you personally hate and think are ugly.

Well, that's what this thread is for. I don't like Franz as a character, whereas Forde has my favorite personality of any cavalier (see his support science video). So yes, I will always use Forde despite his shortcomings, and it's not like SS is a difficult game.

[Punished Dayni]

10 minutes ago, CWGameplay said:

Yeah, this.  Ashe's Strengths are really good, allowing him to take advantage of some of the best classes and skills in the game.  Axes make it easy for him to go into Brigand and get Death Blow, and then from there he can become a Wyvern Lord pretty easily thanks to his Budding Talent in Lances.  On top of that, he still has good Bow rank, Bows being arguably one of the best weapon types in the game thanks to the availability of Close Counter.  He's far from the best unit in the game or anything, but I think he deserves a bit more credit than he gets.

I would argue that on Maddening or if he's speed screwed it'd be more beneficial for him to focus on maximum damage, Fighter and Brigand both help with this and Archer allows him to have higher hit with Deadeye and lower accuracy bows. Brave Bow is also an option in late game.

Wyvern Lord helps by giving him a big movement boost and if you manage to master it you get defiant crit, which combined with Wrath, Killer Bow and Deadeye sounds like a mobile mortar in the making to me. This is something others can do, but Ashe has ease of access with these tools and Deadeye's not exactly universal.

[ping]

Dart is a bit slow when he joins, especially when you want him to wield Hand Axes. Very easily salvagable, though, although he's one of the few FE7 units with legitimate hit rate issues. I don't think the promotion cost is a big deal outside maybe a ranked run and even then only on the normal difficulties where you don't get a Silver card. In my HHM ranked run, I recruited Farina (which costs 40k with the Silver Card taken into account) and still had 90000 gold leeway for the S rank. I did 19xx and 32x, but that still makes my worries about the Funds rank look very silly in retrospect.

--

• Fir in FE6. Not a bad unit as such, but I will occasionally save the first Hero Crest for her, which is a rather bad play. Training her on the isles is just too much fun.
• Reigh for the full Wonder Twin experience. He even has a pretty quick support with Lugh (+3 is lighning-fast for for FE6's standards), although their affinities are an awful match.
• Nino in FE7. A bit less so on HHM, what with CoD being so heavy on high-Res enemies, but I generally like magic "Ests" more because their accurate 1-2 range makes them less risky to train.
• In the same vein, Ewan in FE8, despite him being a strictly worse version of Lute.
• Mist in FE9, in particular Mist The Combat Unit in FE9. Sonic Sword vs. Wyverns is very fun.
• Yubello in FE12. As a fighter, for the sheer hilarity of that being his best class.

[starburst]

Humble Odin, hero of the ages.